Merely traveling abroad does not transform cognition, but deep adaptation does

Evidence

Our initial studies established that living abroad facilitates creativity and that this relationship can be explained by adaptation: the more individuals adapt themselves while abroad, the more creative they become. This first foray into understanding the link between experiences abroad and creativity showed that multicultural experiences probably involve a fairly transformational psychological experience in order to produce an enduring psychological change such as enhanced creativity. Travel abroad may be interesting and rewarding, but except for the most enthusiastic and adventurous travelers, most experiences abroad probably do not provide significant incentives to actually change the fundamental ways they think about, understand, and approach the social world. But success while living abroad can often depend on how individuals change their thinking and behavior to fit the local culture. … Should this happen, such deeper learning experiences could potentially lead to psychological transformations that could impact more downstream psychological processes such as creativity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2234

Categorization

• QUESTION: Is this adaptation effect symmetric for those who resist assimilation or even for privileged expats whose enclaves shield them from the pressure to adapt?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2234
• XREF: connects to: Travel yields little the traveler did not already possess perceptively — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 661